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People are accustomed to the conditions in which they live. It seems to them that the whole world works the same way. Therefore, many oddities cause sincere bewilderment and laughter.
However, when you get acquainted with the history of unusual phenomena, you are amazed at how resourceful and inventive our ancestors were.
10 “Winter refrigerator” comes from the USSR
In some apartments, originally from Soviet times, you can find an unusual thing. Namely, a niche in the wall right under the kitchen windows. This recess is a winter refrigerator.
The walls of the Khrushchev houses are very thick, and the architects came up with an original way to turn it in favor of a person. The architects modified this space for food storage.
In addition, such a “device” does not require electricity, because food is preserved due to the cold from the street. This niche allows modern owners to save space in a conventional refrigerator.
9. Garbage chute, USSR
This thing is familiar to any resident of Russia. The garbage chute was created for the convenience of residents to throw out garbage bags without leaving their homes.
The first devices were designed as early as 1938 in Vladivostok. They were located right in the apartments.
However, the project was not entirely successful. Garbage chutes turned out to be a place of complete unsanitary conditions. First they were moved to the stairwells. Now residents are asking to brew these devices.
8. Unusual keyhole, Cochem
Since the Middle Ages, the locks on the doors of the wine cellars of Cochem have been decorated with raised patterns and grooves. However, this was not done for aesthetics at all.
The Germans invested absolutely practical meaning in beauty. The thing is that the curbs do not allow you to “miss” past the keyhole, no matter how drunk the visitor is.
Even the most intoxicated person will easily open such doors.
7. Blocked windows, England
Those who were lucky enough to walk the streets of England noticed that in old houses some windows were bricked up. This feature has a historical basis.
At the end of the seventeenth century, the British government introduced a “window tax”. In this way, it wanted the rich to pay more for housing. But instead, the owners of the houses began to block the windows with brick and wood.
In addition, despite the benefits, the poor were also left without light and fresh air. They often rented housing in apartment buildings, and the owners demanded from them a separate fee for the windows.
For all the absurdity of this law, it was canceled only in the middle of the nineteenth century. That is, the tax on windows has existed for more than a century and a half.
6. Phoenix bird, Stockholm
In the historical center of Stockholm, a medallion depicting a phoenix hangs on the doors of some houses. At one time, this little thing was very expensive, so only wealthy owners could afford it. Phoenix was purchased as “insurance”.
The fact is that the houses were located very close to each other. Therefore, frequent fires were a real problem for the city.
During the next fire, firefighters first of all saved those houses that have a medallion with a phoenix bird. Buildings without this image were extinguished according to the residual principle.
5. Toilet in the USA
The American drain system often frightens the European. For example, in the United States, toilet bowls cost very much, unlike European examples where the water is at the very bottom. To anyone who is not used to this, it will seem that the toilet is clogged.
In fact, this is done in order not to stain the walls of the object. That’s why Americans often don’t even use a brush – there’s simply no need for it.
4. Little doors in Florence
Small doors in the walls of buildings cover small windows through which even a cat is unlikely to be able to pass. Such miniature doors are called “wine holes”.
This architectural phenomenon can only be found in Florence. It, like blocked windows in England, has its own preconditions.
In the XNUMXth century, it became very expensive to sell wine through dealers and intermediaries. Therefore, the owners of the vineyards cut through the wine holes leading directly to the cellar of the owners. Customers knocked on the doors, gave money and containers, and received their drink.
Buying wine from the owners turned out to be much cheaper than in taverns or in the market. Therefore, wine holes appeared in many buildings, even in palaces. To date, it is impossible to purchase alcohol in this way, since all windows are closed or walled up.
3. Saloon doors
In films about the Wild West, saloons are shown with small wooden doors on hinges that can open in both directions. Many do not understand why people chose this design.
First, for ventilation. Latticed hanging doors contributed to this perfectly. Secondly, passers-by did not see what was happening in the room. And regular customers around the world inside immediately understood whether the institution was open or not.
And, thirdly, the doors of such a structure are the “calling card” of any saloon, it makes it recognizable.
2. English lanyard switch
The cord switch in the bathroom is a hallmark of the UK. According to local safety regulations, people in contact with water should not come into contact with electrical appliances.
The wall device familiar to us causes more concern among the British than among Europeans. But in order not to turn on the light from the corridor, the British found an original way out of the situation – they installed a cord in the bathroom.
It prevents direct human contact with the switch and reduces the risk of electric shock.
1. Milk doors, America and England
These small iron doors are very reminiscent of wine holes in appearance and use.
In the XNUMXth century in England and America, milkmen were involved in the delivery of dairy products. They had a lot of work. It was long and inconvenient for them to knock on the door of the buyers and give the goods from hand to hand.
Therefore, the sellers left bottles of milk in a metal niche, and the owners took them through the doors on the other side, without leaving the house. This facilitated the work of both dairymen and consumers.